First a proviso on Tom Robbins -- He wrote a
book that all the Vietnam & post-Vietnam people read, Even Cowgirls Get
The Blues, which was very far out and extremely intelligent. That's
where I got hooked on him.
The thing about Robbins is -- some of the
boundaries many people choose to recognize are invisible to him, and the
content in his books can get a bit, shall we say, blue.
Back in the late eighties MTV ran ALL the Monty
Python TV shows, one a night each night at 10:00. Before each show MTV
would announce -- "Monty Python's Flying Circus has been known to offend the
easily offended. So, if you are one of them, do us both a favor and don't
watch!"
Same with Tom Robbins. Maybe this proviso is
unnecessary, but I thought I'd post it just in case.
About writing structure -- Another well-written
book that comes to mind written in second person present tense is Bright Lights
Big City by Jay McInerney. A great book (urban hip) and a huge
bestseller by, unfortunately, a one-hit wonder. I'm writing in third and
first person now, but I'm going to try a second-person story someday.
'Cause when they work, they really work.
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 9:59
AM
Subject: Re: [PWA-L] Vicky info
Vicky Woodward wrote:
[log in to unmask]" type="cite">
I recently finished reading a
Tom Robbins novel, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, that I thoroughly
enjoyed. It's written in second person present
tense.
Thanks, Vicky, for exposing
yourself to this crowd!
Vicky touched on a subject that comes up
frequently, one that engenders lots of points of view: person
and tense.
The "classic" choice is third person, past tense.
It's the story-teller's voice. By convention, mystery/detective
fiction these days is almost always first person, past (except when
it's not....) Experimental writers seem to be in love with the third or
first, present. But I don't know that I've seen a whole
book done in second, present.
Whattya think? How do you react
when there's a shift from the expected -- mainly to present tense. What
does that do for (or to) the story? Anyone tried it? And with what
results? Pains? Madnesses?
Discuss it among
yourselves.
Scribite!
kg